Friday, June 25, 2010

Shoplifting From American Apparel by Tao Lin

It's about: This book is about a guy named Sam in his 20's who likes to chat on Gmail, drink iced coffee, drink, hang out with his friends, and occasionally attempt to steal things. He's also a writer and he lives in Brooklyn. That's about it. But trust me, it's good.

I thought: Yep, I liked it. This book doesn't have much of a plot, besides following around this so called Sam living his life as a young vegan writer in Brooklyn who likes to get himself into trouble (as I just described above.) But, here's the reason you should read it - Tao Lin's writing style is literally like nothing I have ever read before. It's so simple and straightforward that it's amusing and highly satisfying. He mentions little details about every day life that you never even notice. I like that.

Verdict: Shelf it.

Reading Recommendations: This is extremely short, you could probably read it in 3 hours or less. And I highly suggest you do.

Warnings: Hmmm ... yeah. If you have any problem whatsoever with swearing or sex you probably won't want to read this book.

Favorite excerpts: "They went to sleep and woke around 8 a.m. and ate leftover bread from the organic vegan restaurant where they worked. Paula put kimchee and vegan mayonnaise on her bread. Sam had read about her doing that on her blog. Sam asked if he could put Paula's agave nectar on his bread. Paula said he could. Same ate two pieces of bread. At her front door they hugged and Sam thought about one night at work when Paula stared at a wall at the back of the kitchen while eating rice pudding. Sam had walked to her and asked what she was doing. She had turned around with a shy facial expression and Sam had grinned at her for a few seconds. Sam liked shy facial expressions. 'I feel good hugging Paula,' he thought."

A Year of Feminist Classics

Don't forget to participate

Keep up with us on Facebook

Networked Blogs

Full disclosure. Yes, you now see ads on our blog. We will try to keep them non-invasive and relevant to your readerly interests. When you click on those ads and make a purchase, we get a little bit of money, which means we can host more giveaways and otherwise improve the blog.